The Government Class Book | Page 4

Government
Chapter XLV.
Provision for Amendments; Assumptions of Public Debt; Supremacy of
the Constitution, &c.; Oaths and Tests; Ratification of the Constitution
Chapter XLVI.
Amendments to the Constitution

Common and Statutory Law.

Chapter XLVII.
Rights of Persons. Personal Security; Personal Liberty; Religious
Liberty; Liberty of Speech, and of the Press; Right of Property
Chapter XLVIII.
Domestic Relations. Husband and Wife
Chapter XLIX.
Domestic Relations, continued. Parent and Child; Guardian and Ward;
Minors; Masters, Apprentices, and Servants
Chapter L.
Rights of Property. How Title to Property is acquired; Wills and
Testaments; Title to Property by Descent
Chapter LI.
Deeds and Mortgages
Chapter LII.
Incorporeal Hereditaments, Right of Way; Aquatic Rights, &c.
Chapter LIII.
Leases. Estates for Life; Estates for Years; Estates at Will; Estates by
Sufferance; Rent, &c.
Chapter LIV.
Contracts in General
Chapter LV.

Contracts of Sale
Chapter LVI.
Fraudulent Sales; Assignments; Gifts, &c.
Chapter LVII.
Bailment
Chapter LVIII.
Principal and Agent, or Factor; Broker; Lien, &c.
Chapter LIX.
Partnership
Chapter LX.
Promissory Notes
Chapter LXI.
Bills of Exchange; Interest; Usury
Chapter LXII.
Crimes and Misdemeanors

Law of Nations.
Chapter LXIII.
Origin and Progress of the Law of Nations; the Natural, Customary,
and Conventional Laws of Nations

Chapter LXIV.
The Jurisdiction of Nations; their mutual Rights and Obligations; the
Rights of Embassadors, Ministers, &c.
Chapter LXV.
Offensive and Defensive War; just Causes of War; Reprisals; Alliances
in War
Chapter LXVI.
Declaration of War; its Effect upon the Person and Property of the
Enemy's Subjects; Stratagems in War; Privateering
Chapter LXVII.
Rights and Duties of Neutral Nations; Contraband Goods; Blockade;
Right of Search; Safe Conducts and Passports; Truces; Treaties of
Peace
Synopsis of the State Constitutions.
Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island
Connecticut New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland
Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama
Mississippi Louisiana Texas Arkansas Missouri Tennessee Kentucky
Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin Iowa California Minnesota
Constitution of the United States

Government Class Book.

Principles of Government.

Chapter I.
Mankind fitted for Society, and for Civil Government and Laws.

§1. Mankind are social beings. They are by nature fitted for society. By
this we mean that they are naturally disposed to associate with each
other. Indeed, such is their nature, that they could not be happy without
such association. Hence we conclude that the Creator has designed men
for society. It can not, therefore, be true, as some say, that the savage
state is the natural state of man.
§2. Man is so formed that he is dependent upon his fellow men. He has
not the natural strength of other animals. He needs the assistance of
creatures like himself to protect and preserve his own being. We can
hardly imagine how a person could procure the necessaries of life
without such assistance. But men have the gifts of reason and speech.
By conversation they are enabled to improve their reason and increase
their knowledge, and to find methods of supplying their wants, and of
improving their social condition.
§3. But, although men need the assistance of each other, they are so
formed that each must have the care of himself. If every man were fed
and clothed from a common store, provided by the labor of all, many,
depending upon the labor of others, would be less industrious than they
now are. By the present arrangement in society, which obliges every
man to provide for his own wants, more is earned, a greater number are
cared for, and the general welfare is better promoted than would be
done if each labored for the benefit of all.
§4. From this arrangement comes the right of property. If each man's
earnings should go into a common stock for the use of all, there would
be nothing that any one could call his own. But if each is to provide for
himself, he must have a right to use and enjoy the fruits of his own
labor.
§5. But all men in society have the same rights. Therefore, in laboring

to supply our wants, and to gratify our desires, we can not rightfully do
so any further than is consistent with the rights of others. Hence we see
the necessity of some established rules for securing to every member of
society the free enjoyment of what justly belongs to him, and for
regulating his conduct toward his fellow-members.
§6. These rules for regulating the social actions of men, are called laws.
Law, in a general sense, is a rule of action, and is applied to all kinds of
action. But in its limited and proper sense, it denotes the rules of human
action prescribing what men are to do, and forbidding what they are not
to do.
§7. We have seen that man is fitted for society, and that laws are
necessary to govern the conduct